Finding My Way
by Vitalani
Summary: Exhausted and traumatised, Chell has finally gained her freedom and left the Aperture facility for greener pastures. But, plagued by nightmares and tormented by hallucinations, she struggles to make it from one day to the next.
1. Perspective

**AN:** Hello, and welcome to my new story. It's kind of a back-story for the micro-verse of my story 'A Touch of Humanity', but works as a stand-alone as well. Critiques, comments, opinions and marshmallows are all welcome -wanted, really- and of course, I'll be having a damn good laugh at pointless flamers. Fear not, **exr** and I are still hard at work on A Touch of Humanity as well. ^_^

**~!~**

**Perspective**

**~!~**

The raven's black eyes gleamed in the moonlight, his claws pricked sharply at the branch he was perched on and he cawed loudly. Below, the running figure clad in orange and dirty white failed to acknowledge his claim to the surrounding area. She just kept running, stumbling under the weight of the irregularly-shaped thing on her back, flattening overgrown grass as she blundered across the landscape.

Another noisy caw still failed to garner the respect the raven demanded. Shattered pieces of bark fell to the ground when he leapt from the branch, swooping through the dim evening sky towards his target.

Finally, recognition struck. The raven's wing clipped across the back of her head and the female gave a yell of fright, losing her footing and tumbling awkwardly to the ground. Satisfied with her submission, the raven swooped away, borne on a stiff breeze scented with the tang of blood and ringing with the screech of pain wrenched from the woman's throat. She should have learned her lesson now and would soon vacate his territory.

He returned to the nest with a contented clucking and settled in to wait for sleep.

**~!~**

**AN:** HA! :D -hides-


	2. Exhaustion

**AN:** Here it is, the first official chapter to this story. Since the 'prologue' was so damn short, I'm putting this straight up. Reviews and critiques welcome of course, and I will enjoy the comedy festival of any flamers as much as always. ^_^ Enjoy.

**~!~**

**Exhaustion**

It took a while for the panic to fade, but at length, Chell finally got her head and breathing under some semblance of control. She pushed herself up on her right hand, saliva dribbling to the ground as she managed to fix her eyes on the bloody mess of her left hand. It was not a pretty sight. Her throat tightened up, clenched against the nauseating sensation of forcing her body to a sitting position.

Despite all the hell she'd endured and seen in Aperture, this fresh, dripping-red wound was by far the nastiest thing she'd ever had the misfortune of witnessing. A sharp, twisted stick had pierced the fleshy area at the base of her thumb, just above her wrist, and gouged her palm open all the way to her ring finger, leaving a few jagged splinters and a mess of shredded skin in its' wake.

She braced her left wrist between her knees, clenching them together to keep the wounded limb as still as possible. Chell raised her right hand and, carefully, she gripped the end of the largest of the splinters lodged in her injured hand, then yanked it out. The sting of it made her hiss, unable to maintain her usual silence.

Hand shaking, and cold, slick perspiration not helping the situation, she dropped the splinter and reached for another one. Then a third. Then the fourth, which came blessedly easily from her hand.

Chell knew she couldn't succumb to the desire for rest just yet, however. The wound was still bare to the elements, and bleeding liberally.

She dug ragged nails into the material around her waist, untying the two sleeves of her much-abused Test Subject jumpsuit, breaking her nails further in the attempt to tear the stitching that held one piece of cloth to the rest. It was a dizzying while until the orange fabric tore, by which time her fingertips were also bloody. Chell licked at them to try and keep them vaguely clean, and now that the fabric had been separated she could put it to her mouth and use her teeth as well. In no time, it seemed, she'd laid open the tube of cloth, then torn it in half. Carefully, gingerly, Chell pressed one end to her mangled left hand and tried to wrap it. The material was soaked dark-red by the time she finished that.

Undaunted, and feeling marginally less like she wanted to collapse in the dirt and pass out, Chell started with the next piece. She pressed the middle of it to her palm and curled her weakened fingers over it to keep it still. Then, one half at a time and using her knees to keep the loose end pulled taut, Chell bound the second half of her sleeve around her injured hand and managed to tie a very messy knot in it.

A glance sideways assured her that her Companion Cube was still there, its' pink decals glowing softly in the dimming evening. Red smeared onto the heart on CC's face as Chell scrabbled for a grip on the Cube. She couldn't sum up the strength to stand, let alone lift CC from the ground. But, taking stock of her situation, she decided she'd done fairly well for one afternoon. Her wounded hand had been dealt with, and that bird hadn't come back to dive-bomb her again.

She conceded the need for rest and lay down beside the Companion Cube, curling her body around it so it was pressed against her stomach. Its presence was comforting, an anchor of familiarity, and soon enough she drifted to sleep.

~!~

Cold. That was her first thought. The sky was dark, with only a sliver of lightness on the horizon to the east. And there was a foul, bitter taste in her mouth.

At least Chell knew exactly what _that_ was. Blood, from licking her fingertips where they'd been grazed open by the tough fabric of her jumpsuit. The memory of seeing the hideous gash torn into the palm of her hand brought a fresh wave of nausea, and Chell pushed herself to her knees, then promptly leaned to the right and vomited thick bile into the dirt.

She took her time standing again. The exhaustion was raw, but the same obstinate defiance that had saved her repeatedly from GLaDOS eventually helped her to find her feet. Chell leaned down, pawing her right hand over CC's surface until her fingertips found purchase and the heavy Cube was worked, awkwardly, up her leg and finally to her hip. Her injured left hand had curled overnight, now it ached and throbbed, and she tried hard to keep from knocking it against her leg as she started forwards on unsteady feet.

Road. She knew the word, knew what the expanse of paved black was. But upon emerging from the wheat-field and seeing the warm, flat surface with its' intermittent white-painted lines, Chell found herself momentarily taken aback.

She cast her eyes to the left, then the right, and saw a whole lot of nothing all the way to the horizon. Nothing. It might as well have been more wheat, really. However, the wide strip of bitumen formed a border between the wheat-field and a sparse-looking forest. Chell pushed herself to keep going, absently noting the unfamiliar sound of her Long Fall Boots on the road, at the same time registering an instinctive conviction in the idea that the abundance of foliage meant high chances of exposed water. A river, or maybe a creek, would be welcome. Hell, at this point she'd be happy with a damp patch of mud.

It was somehow far cooler amongst the scrubby trees. Chell edged between them, careful as ever not to drop CC, stretching one finger at a time as she walked before curling it on the Cube's edge again and working the next one. The theory was based on preventing a cramp from breaking her grip and leaving the Cube in the dirt, which would probably hurt CC and definitely see in another round of getting it back up to Chell's hip like a helpless babe.

All that flew out the proverbial window when the sound of trickling fluid reached her. Chell flung CC to the ground, sprinting towards the noise. Her dirty Long Fall Boots splashed across a pebbled, inch-deep brook and Chell dropped to her knees, eagerly slurping up the chilled fluid. Never had anything tasted so sweet. She drank until her stomach felt swollen and heavy, then got up again and went looking for her Companion Cube, whimpering in apology when she found it dug into mulchy soil.

The pink hearts continued to glow warmly, almost forgivingly she thought, and she hauled the Cube to the little creek and bathed it lovingly with her uninjured hand the best she could, cooing quietly to it as the black dirt and the soot from GLaDOS' incinerator were washed away, revealing an only-slightly-battered, stark-white surface. The hearts seemed to gleam at her, causing a smile of relief to grace the young woman's lips before she once more worked it up to her hip.

Since the creek was flowing away from the risen sun, which she knew was 'east', Chell walked down the middle of it, heading towards the source of the flow. Disappointingly, she found nothing of note except the fact that the water gushed from a crack in a massive, granite boulder formation. That led her to circle the jutting stone, looking for a new path to follow, which finally revealed a naturally-formed cavelet of sorts. Well... Maybe that was being a bit optimistic, she cautioned herself. It was more like a weathered hollow, the deepest part of it being about eight feet square where the rock prevented wind or rain getting in from all sides except the north and north-west.

Still pleased with the new turn of events -it was better than stumbling amongst mangy wheat and potato plants, at least- Chell gently set CC on the ground near the back of the little overhang and exited again, now looking around for something to ease her growling stomach.

**~!~**

**AN:** Hehehe... That raven did a number on her, aye? :P R&amp;R!


End file.
